Spells and Jinglebells

by ReGina Welling

  I shook my head. “I still don’t understand,” I said. “So your canine buddies dug you out, okay. I got that. But, how did you unlatch the coffin from the inside? I thought you said that Mrs. Spleener had sealed it.”

  Stella stroked her chin. “Remember I told you I had had to work all night? Well, after Leland had put me three hours behind schedule, I then spent another six hours looking for my wand. My husband, you see, in his haste to rid me from his memory, I guess, packed up all my stuff and had stuffed it all in the attic. You have no idea how many boxes I had to go through to find it. As I told you, it was nearly dawn by the time I got back to Spleener’s. I simply charmed the latch and hid my wand underneath the folds of my dress. I used it to charm the air in the coffin too. I squeezed out double the amount of oxygen from the interior. It kept me breathing for the two days I was in the ground. By the time my coyote friends arrived for their digging work, all I had to do was flick my wand to re-release the coffin’s latch.”

  I was surprised to see a solitary tear streaking down Stella’s cheek. She wiped at it furiously. “My good husband had packed me away even before I was in the ground,” she muttered.

  “Stella, did you know there’s a roadblock at the Horsemen? Donkerton’s there; he’s looking for your husband. How did you expect to get out of town? You know you can’t use magic, so what were you thinking?” I asked.

  Stella looked at Midnight. “If your stupid snooping cat here thought to look on the inside of the cabin, then he’d have noticed the stockpile of food. I planned to wait it out up there. Until the search lost steam. I’m a patient woman.”

  “No kidding,” Shade said. “Anyone who can spend two days underground without losing their marbles gets the Zen award, I’d say.”

  The door to the Maggoty Apple opened, and Gothic Harbor’s one and only remaining officer walked in. He walked to the bar, where he engaged in a lively debate with Iris. The landlady pointed over to us, and the officer strode over, already unclipping a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

  He cuffed Stella’s wrists and guided her silently toward the exit.

  “Wait!” I yelled. I groped inside my pocket for the bracelet, and handed it to Stella. “Here,” I said. “It’s your family heirloom.” The scrap of cerulean blue silk had wedged itself between one of the bracelets links. Stella smoothed it between her thumb and forefinger.

  “Sorry, about the dress, Addie,” she whispered before she was led away.

  Chapter Ten

  The Christmas Miracle happened shortly after we had solved the case. It took a while to calm Adorania down, but after Iris’ generous offerings of free brandy, Adorania’s wracking sobs became muted sniffles. We had her neighbor, Agnes Carp, sit with her before she escorted her to the police station for questioning.

  “Boss-lady, we gonna have to stay here another night?” Midnight asked. He looked agitated.

  “I-I don’t know, buddy. I still have a feeling --”

  “Forget it, human,” Gloom sniffed. It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. We’re never getting out of here on time. The salmon’s a goner.”

  I sighed. I guess I had to admit we were running out of time.

  “Okay, I’m sorry guys. I really am. I still have this feeling, but … well, do you want me to ask Iris if the place is free for another night?”

  “No need of that, lovey.” The landlady beamed from ear to ear. “I think you should probably take your kitties and head to the pass. You’ll find a way through, I’m sure.” She winked at me.

  “What? Iris, what do you mean?” I said, already grabbing my coat and bag.

  “Merry Christmas, Chimera and beautiful cats,” she said. “Go. Go now.”

  I ran over to her and gave her a big squeeze. I felt her chins shift a little under my shoulder. “I don’t know what you’ve done, or what you did, or what you’re doing, Iris, but thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

  “Aw, get away with ya! Get going now, while the roads are clear. The snow melted fast, but there’s more on the way.” She patted my back and turned away. The Infiniti and I walked out of the Maggoty Apple to the car. Well, I had to carry Fraidy. He wasn’t walking anywhere in his present CATatonic state. I massaged his head with one hand until I heard him offer a low purr.

  “You think Iris put some magic on the avalanche?” Eclipse asked, taking his place on the back seat.

  “I don’t know, ‘Clipsy,” I said. “But, I wouldn’t think so. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work anyway, would it?”

  “Well, what else could it be?” Gloom snapped. Iris’ news had my cat excited. Which meant she was more than a little grumpy as a consequence of her excitement. “Because I’m telling you now, only magic will get us out of here. There will be no Christmas without it, so deal with it.”

  “Oh, will you zip it, Ebenezer?” Carbon said. “Have a little faith this Christmas season, won’t you?”

  “Let’s talk about faith when your breath is stinking of cheap cat food on Boxing day,” Gloom scoffed.

  “Are we, like, gonna actually get any boxes this Boxing day?” Midnight asked. “I mean, it sounds like the best holiday ever, but I dunno, it always comes up short for me. I mean, no new boxes ever turn up. It’s like we have to make do with the wrappings of Christmas day.”

  “That’s true, bro, that’s true,” Shade empathized. “I mean, Christmas wrappings are fun and all, but they’re kinda old news by Boxing day.”

  Gloom rolled her eyes. “You guys are a pair of plankton. You don’t ….”

  I didn’t even hear my cats bickering as I drove to the Four Horsemen pass. I was too busy vibrating with a sense of hope and excitement I hadn’t felt since the Christmas mornings of my childhood days.

  I rounded the last bend into the pass and brought the car to a stop. We stared, in silent wonder, at the Christmas Miracle playing out before us. An army of whistling Santa's, hundreds in number, digging away at the mound of fallen snow, shipping truckloads of it out to parts unknown. A huge tunnel had already been carved through the ice. I wondered how far they were from the ‘other side.’ My heart hammered in my chest; not through excitement this time, but from the beating grace of gratitude and love I felt for these people working so hard on our behalf.

  Here we were trying to get home to Glessie for Christmas, and, yet, before us was a brightly-shining example of the true meaning of Christmas. A community coming together to help a stranger (and her cats) in need. Gloom had suggested that we’d need magic to get out of Gothic Harbor. Well, if this play of human generosity on the other side of my windshield wasn't magic, then I’d eat the magician’s hat. Shade was also bowled over by a wave of emotion. He hugged each of his siblings first, and then came to embrace me just as the first Santa waved us through the tunnel. I could see the flashing lights of Donkerton’s cruiser on the other side.

  Shade rubbed his cheek against mine, placing both of his paws either side of my neck. “I love you, boss,” he said. “Merry Salmon.”

  I kissed him on the head. “Merry Salmon, honey.”

  THE END.

  Want to read more? Dive into The Infiniti Chronicles

  About the Author

  Pearl lives in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia, Canada. She's a cat lady, a loner, and maybe even a little bit of a weirdo. But perhaps this helps when writing stories about talking cats?

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  Holly-Locked

  In a Town Called Christmas Cove Mystery

  Ava Mallory

  Summary

  Welcome to Christmas Cove, a town celebrated for its magic and its mysteries.

  When Holly Belle said goodbye to Christmas Cove in search of fame and fortune in Hollywood, she knew she’d one-day find herself in the limelight. But she never imagined a murder in her hometown would be her first brush with fame. Her precocious grandmother, a witch with an eye for trouble, stands accused of a doozy of crime. Will Holly’
s grand return save her grandmother, or will it open the door to more drama?

  Chapter One

  Holly Belle rushed into the nondescript concrete structure and slammed into the guard’s desk with full force.

  The guard, a redheaded woman with dark eyes and a harsh brow line stiffened her back as she took in the harried thirty-something-year-old woman, who hadn’t dressed for the weather. With her thick, false eyelashes, and short red, leather skirt with matching stilettos on her tattooed feet, two things were obvious: She didn’t belong here and wasn’t afraid of catching pneumonia.

  “Can I help you?” Maxine, a twenty-year veteran of the Christmas Cove sheriff’s office, asked.

  Holly pushed her curls off her face and said in a thick Midwestern accent, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m here to bail my grandmother out of jail.” She gulped back a giggle because it didn’t seem like the proper thing to do in this situation.

  Nothing about the last twelve hours of her life seemed appropriate. One minute she’s standing in front of a camera, getting ready to say her first official line for her new acting gig and the next, she’s scraping coins out of her sofa cushions because she’s forty-dollars shy of the full fee for a plane ticket back to the place she’d hoped to never see again: Christmas Cove, the tiny town who celebrated the holidays all year round, whether any of the local residents wanted to or not.

  Maxine hoisted her pants over her thick middle, a sneer on her face. “Well, isn’t that sweet? Your grandmother doesn’t happen to have a name, does she? Or would you like me to cut all the inmates loose for you? Your wish is my command.”

  Unappreciative of Maxine’s mocking tone, Holly arched a newly-perfected brow at her and lodged what she thought was the appropriate response, “That depends. Do many feeble elderly women get locked up on a regular night? I’m sure the streets of this Podunk town are safer now that my grandmother is in a steel cage.”

  Maxine wasn’t amused often, but she’d made an exception for the spunky misfit. “Let me guess. Calliope Belle is your grandmother?”

  Holly gulped. The guard’s tone conveyed what most people in Christmas Cove thought about her family. The tales they’d tell about their mysterious past were enough to make her want to leave town for good. Back then, The Cove, as it’s known by the locals, was nothing more than a near-defunct eyesore stuck between acres of feedlots.

  When a developer from southern California accidentally found himself and his young family stranded on the side of the road a mile south of town, he and his hotel decorator wife, decided it would be the ideal location for their high-concept tourist destination. Before anyone knew what was happening, the town - population: 402 at the time - was turned into a scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas permanently. Soon after that, she packed her bags and headed for Hollywood in search of a real acting job, instead of the reluctant witch thing she had going on at home.

  “Yes, she is. I’m here to bail her out,” she answered.

  Maxine leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and whispered, “What if I told you there’s no bail for murderers?”

  Holly gasped.

  In all the confusion, she hadn’t written down the details. Her daily diaries were her lifeline. Ever since a spell gone wrong had taken her ability to remember anything she didn’t write down, she filled reams of paper with her notes to make sure she didn’t forget the important things, like to brush her teeth or wear pants.

  While her condition made it excruciatingly difficult to concentrate when she was a student, it has fed her creative side. She’d become quite the artist, often turning in assignments with elaborate drawings instead of the mundane information like actual answers to the questions asked. Since the Christmas Cove school district frowned upon letting students use their notes on tests, she had to channel her energy into the arts. Drawing and scrapbooking replaced Algebra, Economics, and Social Studies until her grandmother convinced her mother to homeschool her. Not that it went any better, but it did at least make for interesting dinner conversations, though.

  “I’m sorry. Did you say murder?” She reached for her diary to check her notes. “No, that can’t be right. I have it right here. It says she was mistakenly picked up in a raid at Santa’s Workshop. One of the elves kicked an officer and she intervened and accidentally scratched him. How is that murder?”

  Sarcasm laced through her words, Maxine answered, “It became murder when the elf died. That’s how.” She snickered. “Look, darling, I don’t know where you’re from, but you might want to consider checking into the Solstice Suites for a while. The courthouse is closed until after the new year. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year and all that jazz.”

  “What? No. That can’t be right. The elf died? How?” She had so many questions.

  “How am I supposed to know? I just work here. Why don’t you take your mini skirt and those ridiculous shoes and get out of here? There’s nothing you can do to help her. It was bound to happen anyway. No offense, but your family isn’t exactly known for keeping their hands to themselves. You’re lucky you don’t live here.”

  “Lucky? What’s lucky about any of this? I have to see her. This must be some kind of mistake.” She fought back tears as the guard busied herself with paperwork, oblivious to her concerns.

  The double doors opened behind her.

  Holly begged the guard, “Isn’t there someone I can talk to? Can I at least see her? I need to know she’s okay.”

  Maxine glanced up at the door and plastered a smile on her face. “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. Nice to see you again, Henry.” She smoothed her hands over her wrinkled uniform. “If I’d known you were stopping by, I would have ironed this morning.”

  “Hello, ladies,” the handsome man with dark locks, the sculptured face of a Roman god, and sea blue colored eyes greeted them. “How is everything?” He eyed Holly, taking in her shapely tanned legs. “I don’t believe we’ve met before, have we?”

  She hadn’t expected to find herself face to face with someone as handsome as Henry. When she turned to face him, her smeared make-up startled him.

  He stifled a laugh as he offered his hand. “I’m Henry Castle, the city manager.”

  Wishing she’d had the presence of mind to fix her face before addressing him, she stared at her feet to avoid making eye contact. “Hello. Did you say city manager? What is that? Like the mayor? I thought Eugene Bottles was the mayor?”

  He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Eugene is still the mayor. There’s no getting rid of him. Is there something I can help you with?” He glanced over her shoulder at Maxine. “Could you get her a tissue, please?”

  Unlike when Holly had asked her for help, Maxine readily agreed to help him. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a box of tissues. “This isn’t unusual. All the perp’s families leave here in tears. It comes with the territory. She’ll be fine.”

  “Perps?” Holly didn’t appreciate the statement. “My grandmother isn’t a perp.”

  “Yeah, you know, cons, criminals, thugs? You know what I mean. The inmates,” Maxine explained, her eye twitching as she stared at Henry.

  “My grandmother is not a criminal, thank you very much,” Holly protested. “Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?” She was so angry, she could barely get the words out of her mouth.

  Henry placed a tender hand on the middle of her back. “Let’s just take a breather. I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way. Did you, Maxine?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Do you think you could rephrase what you just said?”

  Blushing, she tried again, “What I mean is when inmate’s families stop by, they always leave disappointed. That’s the way things go around here. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  “All I want to do is take her home,” Holly said, emotion garbling her words. “She isn’t a murderer.”

  “But she’s a witch, right?” Maxine pointed out the well-known secret.

  Henry gasped. “Are you here for Mrs. Belle?�
�

  “Ms. Belle,” I corrected him. “She’s divorced.”

  “Yeah, three times,” Maxine chimed in. “The Belle women never could keep a man. I mean, I don’t blame the men for leaving. Who would want to be married to anyone from that lot? They’re a screw short of a--”

  “Could you not?” Holly asked. “What do you know about me and my family? I don’t recall ever meeting you before. So what if my grandmother got divorced a few times? What does that have to do with any of this?”

  She held her belly as she laughed. “Everything because the elf she killed happened to be one of your ex-grandfathers.”

  The information hit Holly like a meteor. Her voice barely above a whisper, she asked, “Which one?”

  Her actual grandfather died long before she was born according to her diary entries. From what she’d been told, her grandparents were the perfect couple. Her grandmother’s second husband never made it as an entry in her diary, so she had no memory to speak of. Her grandmother’s last husband filled enough pages in her diaries, she could have written a whole book about the years they’d spent together. The last she’d checked - on April 22nd, to be exact - he was alive and well, living in the Florida Keys.

  “It’s not Fred, is it? Please, tell me it wasn’t him,” she begged.

  Maxine shook her head. “Nope. That old piece of useless man-dom is still in Florida. I heard he got married again, but I can’t say for sure.”

  Holly breathed a sigh of relief. “So, it has to be husband number two. What’s his name?” She opened her diary to an empty page.